Daniel 2:1–13

The King’s Forgotten Dream

1 Now in the second year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuchadnezzar 1 ahad dreams; and his spirit was troubled and his bsleep 2left him.

2 Then the king 1gave orders to call in the 2 amagicians, the conjurers, the sorcerers and the 3Chaldeans to tell the king his dreams. So they came in and stood before the king.

3 The king said to them, “I 1 ahad a dream and my spirit 2is anxious to 3understand the dream.”

4 Then the Chaldeans spoke to the king in 1 aAramaic: “bO king, live forever! cTell the dream to your servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

5 The king replied to the Chaldeans, “1The command from me is firm: if you do not make known to me the dream and its interpretation, you will be 2 atorn limb from limb and your houses will be made a rubbish heap.

6 “But if you declare the dream and its interpretation, you will receive from me agifts and a reward and great honor; therefore declare to me the dream and its interpretation.”

7 They answered a second time and said, “Let the king atell the dream to his servants, and we will declare the interpretation.”

8 The king replied, “I know for certain that you are 1bargaining for time, inasmuch as you have seen that 2the command from me is firm,

9 that if you do not make the dream known to me, there is only aone 1decree for you. For you have agreed together to speak lying and corrupt 2words before me until the 3situation is changed; therefore tell me the dream, that I may bknow that you can declare to me its interpretation.”

10 The Chaldeans answered 1the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who could declare the matter 2for the king, inasmuch as no great king or ruler has ever asked anything like this of any 3 amagician, conjurer or Chaldean.

11 “Moreover, the thing which the king demands is 1difficult, and there is no one else who could declare it 2to the king except agods, whose bdwelling place is not with mortal flesh.”

12 Because of this the king became aindignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

13 So the 1decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for aDaniel and his friends to 2kill them.

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1	Lit dreamed dreams
a	Ge 40:5–8 Ge 41:1 Ge 41:8 Job 33:15–17 Da 2:3 Da 4:5
b	Es 6:1 Da 6:18
2	Lit was gone upon him
1	Lit said to call
2	Or soothsayer priests
a	Ge 41:8 Ex 7:11 Is 47:12 Is 47:13 Da 1:20 Da 2:10 Da 2:27 Da 4:6 Da 5:7
3	Or master astrologers, and so throughout the ch
1	Lit dreamed
a	Ge 40:8 Ge 41:15 Da 4:5
2	Lit was troubled
3	Lit know
1	The text is in Aramaic from here through 7:28
a	Ezr 4:7 Is 36:11
b	Da 3:9 Da 5:10
c	Da 2:7
1	Another reading is The word has gone from me
2	Lit made into limbs
a	Ezr 6:11 Da 2:12 Da 3:29
a	Da 2:48 Da 5:7 Da 5:16 Da 5:29
a	Da 2:4
1	Lit buying
2	V 5, note 1
a	Es 4:11 Da 3:15
1	Or law
2	Lit word
3	Lit time
b	Is 41:23
1	Lit before the
2	Lit of
3	Or soothsayer priest
a	Da 2:2 Da 2:27
1	Or rare
2	Lit before
a	Ge 41:39 Da 5:11
b	Ex 29:45 Is 57:15
a	Ps 76:10 Da 2:5 Da 3:13 Da 3:19
1	Or law
a	Da 1:19 Da 1:20
2	Lit be killed